NCAA notes: Volunteers and Cyclones coming through in clutch

The do-or-die nature of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is nothing new to Tennessee.

The Volunteers (24-12) have been playing with virtually no margin for error since late February, after they split their first 14 SEC games.

The 11th-seeded Vols are streaking into Friday’s Midwest Regional semifinal against No. 2 seed Michigan (27-8) with eight wins in their last nine games. After beating Iowa in the First Four, Tennessee ousted No. 6 seed Massachusetts and No. 14 seed Mercer.

“I think it did a good job of just putting us on edge every day,” Tennessee guard Josh Richardson said. “I think we kind of had an advantage going into the Iowa game because we’d been playing the do-or-die games for a couple of weeks at that point.”

A month ago, Tennessee was 16-11and in danger of missing the NCAA tournament. The Vols now look like a completely different team— their eight wins have been decided by an average margin of 20.9 points.

CYCLONIC: Iowa State is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000 because it’s resilient, and no one epitomizes the mental toughness of the Cyclones more than Naz Long.

The sophomore’s ability to shake off adversity and knock down big shots is a huge reason why Iowa State (28-7) will play Connecticut (28-8) in the East Regional semifinals.

“You never have to worry about Naz and confidence,” Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said. “He’s not afraid to step up and take shots — whether he’s made his last five or he’s missed his last five.”

Long is 5-of-5 from 3-point range in the final five minutes of Big 12 and NCAA tournament games so far.

“I’ve got to play defense and I’ve got to knock down shots. There’s not much more to worry about,” Long said. “If I get the ball in my hands, I’m going to shoot the shot.”

AROUND THE RIM: Kansas freshman guard Wayne Selden announced he will return for his sophomore season with the Jayhawks. ... Florida coach Billy Donovan signed a three-year contract extension last month that raised his average salary to $3.7 million over the final six years of the deal, which runs through the 2018-19 season. ... Manhattan coach Steve Masiello is reportedly taking the job at South Florida. The 39-year-old led the Jaspers into the NCAA tournament and finished 25-8 this season. He is 60-39 in three seasons as head coach. ... The Atlantic Coast Conference is reportedly moving its tournament to the Barclay’s Center in New York, starting in 2017. The Atlantic 10 was scheduled to play there through 2017, but will move in exchange for playing an ACC/A-10 doubleheader at Barclays in 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18. The A-10 tournament will then return to Brooklyn in 2019. The state of North Carolina has hosted 50 of the ACC’s 61 league tourney.